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PCB receiving pushback from abandoned building owners

Firefighters battle a blaze at The Beach Club Motel on Front Beach Road in this News Herald file photo.

Heather Leiphart / The News Herald

By Valerie Garman / The News Herald

Published: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 08:56 AM.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Panama City Beach officials are dealing with what they call a “deadbeat developer.”

The vacant Beach Club Motel caught fire in May, and the city building department declared it unsafe and a public nuisance. Since then, efforts to get the owner, Atlanta area developer David Pearson, to either repair or demolish the structure have proven fruitless, officials said.

“It’s a scourge to the residents of Panama City Beach and the visitors of Panama City Beach,” said Councilman Keith Curry. “He needs to come down here and clean up his properties.”

Panama City Beach building inspectors declared the property unsafe and unfit for habitation last month, stating the structure must be repaired or demolished.

The Bay County Property Appraiser outlined a $290,461 building valuation for the Beach Club Motel site at 10637 Front Beach Road, and inspectors estimated a $390,705 cost of repairs. Buildings at the owner’s adjacent parcel were valued at $138,664 with $266,511 worth of repairs needed.

The declaration gives the property owner 21 days to produce a contract for construction or demolition of the building, followed by 30 days to begin work and another 30 to complete the project.

A letter was sent to Pearson, who rebutted that the buildings should not require demolition under city code because the property appraiser value did not account for its potential value after improvements.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Panama City Beach officials are dealing with what they call a “deadbeat developer.”

The vacant Beach Club Motel caught fire in May, and the city building department declared it unsafe and a public nuisance. Since then, efforts to get the owner, Atlanta area developer David Pearson, to either repair or demolish the structure have proven fruitless, officials said.

“It’s a scourge to the residents of Panama City Beach and the visitors of Panama City Beach,” said Councilman Keith Curry. “He needs to come down here and clean up his properties.”

Panama City Beach building inspectors declared the property unsafe and unfit for habitation last month, stating the structure must be repaired or demolished.

The Bay County Property Appraiser outlined a $290,461 building valuation for the Beach Club Motel site at 10637 Front Beach Road, and inspectors estimated a $390,705 cost of repairs. Buildings at the owner’s adjacent parcel were valued at $138,664 with $266,511 worth of repairs needed.

The declaration gives the property owner 21 days to produce a contract for construction or demolition of the building, followed by 30 days to begin work and another 30 to complete the project.

A letter was sent to Pearson, who rebutted that the buildings should not require demolition under city code because the property appraiser value did not account for its potential value after improvements.

“In light of the facts set forth herein, the beach motel property, in its present state, is in compliance with Panama City (Beach’s) code,” Pearson wrote in an email to the city’s code enforcement officer.

Read the mail from Pearson

If the developer does not act, the city could place a lien against the property and demolish the building itself, but building department director Mel Leonard said a change in state legislation has made it harder for municipalities to get paid back for those actions. The legislation requires property owners to pay off mortgage companies before local governments, he said.

“That puts a cloud over local governments trying to get this done,” Leonard said. “There’s more of a risk for local governments because we may not get our money back.”

The city is operating under an unsafe building abatement code from 1985 and is exploring a more aggressive approach to the code that would allow officials to intervene more quickly.

Under the code, building officials must identify repairs needed to bring a building up to code and conduct a cost estimate of repairs. If the needed repairs exceed 50 percent of the cost of the building, the owner is required to either conduct the repairs or demolish the building, or the city will take action.

The half-acre, beachfront property was acquired by the developer out of foreclosure last year for $1.3 million.

Curry said he believed the developer, who owns other vacant properties in the area, scooped up low-price properties so he can “flip” and sell them once the market improves.

“This is our town; this is our community,” Curry said. “We need to hold these commercial people, these investors, to the same standard (as residents). They need to take care of their properties.”